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Stephen Hume: When it comes to dogs and their bite, size matters

Dog bite injuries account for more emergency room visits by children than playgrounds, rollerblading, skateboarding and all-terrain vehicle injuries combined, according to the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, writes Sun columnist Stephen Hume.

Photograph by: Gerald Herbert
, AP

Discuss attacks by large, aggressive dogs and you invite vehement denial from dog owners that there actually is a significant problem.

Yet public health, insurance and animal welfare organizations all agree — dog bites are a significant concern and big dogs cause the more grievous injuries.

Some people think the solution is breed-specific bans, others, education, still others — I’m one — think it’s about making dog owners accountable.

The Canadian Humane Society estimates someone is bitten by a dog every 60 seconds in Canada — about 565,000 people annually. Of these, the Canadian Safety Council says 460,000 are children. The Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine says dog bite injuries account for more emergency department visits by children than playgrounds, rollerblading, skateboarding and all-terrain vehicles combined.

In the U.S., the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention say 4.7 million Americans suffer dog bites each year. Last year 885,000 required medical intervention. And 27,000 required reconstructive surgeries — that’s an operation every 17 minutes, notes the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Last week, even as a furious debate raged in Metro Vancouver over the fatal stabbing of a pit bull by the owner of a pug it was accused of biting, the Westchester Journal News in New York was reporting on an attack in which a pit bull tore the genitals off a five-year-old boy.

In Wilton, Connecticut, a pit bull tears out one of its 56-year-old owner’s arms and rips off her other hand. The marauding dog is shot by police.

In Norman, Oklahoma, schoolchildren crossing the street after attending mass are charged by two large dogs. Three are knocked down and savaged, one suffers a concussion.

In Cardiff, Wales, a woman walking her leashed puppy near a children’s play area is attacked by an off-leash pit bull. Her dog is killed, she suffers severe bite wounds.

In Scotland, the Scottish Express reports an eight-year-old boy mauled by two pit bulls — both on leashes. They are so powerful that when they attack, they drag their helpless owner with them.

In Leicestershire, England, a four-year-old girl is killed at home by the family’s pet pit bull.

In Stockton, California, The Record reports on an indictment following the fatal mauling of a visitor who has her throat torn out in a sudden lunge by his pit bull.

In Atlanta, the Journal-Constitution reports a woman airlifted to hospital after two pit bull-type dogs injure her while attacking the pets she is walking on leashes.

In Cambridge, England, a woman’s guide dog is severely injured by two large dogs. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association tells the Cambridge News that blind clients suffer 10 such attacks on guide dogs every month — a major problem because it often renders victims’ incapable of continuing as guide animals.

In Baker City, Oregon, a five-year-old boy dies after being set upon by a neighbour’s pit bull. Pit bulls maul toddlers to death in Coldon, California and in Gilbert, Arizona. A 25-year-old in Kernersville, North Carolina, is killed by a pair of pit bulls she had raised from the time they were puppies.

In Saskatoon, two boxers rip into a letter carrier, leaving him with bloody wounds to his face and limbs. In Iqaluit, a 30-year-old woman is mauled by her neighbour’s pit bull.

In Chilliwack, a teenager is attacked by several pit bulls; in Abbotsford, a cow is put down after savaging by two pit bulls; in Burnaby, a man and his sheltie are injured by a pit bull-type; in Surrey, a woman’s Shih Tzu is killed by a Rottweiler-cross in an off-leash park; in Cowichan, a puppy on a leash is attacked by a pit bull; in Kyuquot, an 11-year-old girl is attacked by feral dogs; in the Alberni Valley, a small terrier is savaged by a pit-bull boxer cross.

All dogs bite, goes the obfuscating mantra, it’s not about breed. Indeed, it’s not entirely, but it is about a dog’s size — and its owner’s ignorance or recalcitrance regarding the potential that breeding creates.

All cats scratch, too. It’s the size of the cat that counts. We don’t worry about house cats. But if the cat weighs 50 kilograms and hangs around a school, we kill it.

The issue is not whether cats scratch or dogs bite — they all will — it’s the magnitude of the potential injury inflicted by some compared to others.

Since 2003, reports the Insurance Information Institute, U. S. home insurers have paid out more than $4 billion in dog-bite liability claims. In Canada, reports the Canadian Underwriter, a single insurance company paid out $108 million last year to cover 3,670 dog bite claims.

Cost escalates. The average insurance payout for a dog bite injury is now more than $29,000, up more than 50 per cent from 2003. In the U.S., some insurers are refusing owners of big dogs.

Look, we need to have this discussion. And dog enthusiasts, some of whom bluster about stereotyping, also have an interest in looking beyond their own biases and joining the conversation instead of trying to shut it down by accusing everyone else of bias, distortion and exaggeration.

Dog bite injuries account for more emergency room visits by children than playgrounds, rollerblading, skateboarding and all-terrain vehicle injuries combined, according to the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, writes Sun columnist Stephen Hume.

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